Hi,
I currently drive a 1999 Volvo S80 T6. I pretty much got everything fine except for power steering. When I first start the car, the power steering makes this loud grinding sound (like if there was no power steering fluid in there). When I look into the power steering reservoir, i see bubbles on top of the fluid. After the vehicle warms up, the problem goes away. After a while of driving, it comes back again. My mechanic says he needs to replace the entire steering rack. Is he trying to get extra money from me? Can changing just the pump help solve the problem, or do i need the entire steering rack? I already tried topping the fluid off thinking it was too low but the excess fluid spilled out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank You!

Edit: The cars milage is around 77k miles.

 

Drop the fluid level some. Then with a flashlight look on the inside of the bottle.
Look where the small hose goes into the top of the bottle. There should be a plastic piece that goes all the way down to the bottom of the bottle.

A common problem not known buy alot of Mechanic's is the plastic piece works off the brass sleeve and falls to the bottom causing the noise you hear.

So when you look in there if you see a brass sleeve instead of plastic you need a new fluid bottle.
I would try that first that is WAY cheaper than the RACK.

Like I said alot of Mechanic's out there don't know it is a problem.

 

That did not work. The leak got a lot worse now. After 15 miles of driving, my power steering reservoir is dry. I'm going to take it to a mechanic this friday. Hopefully its a small fix.

Im also hoping the bill is not too
[sm=jawdrop.gif]

 

Is the side of the engine by the bottle all wet?
Or is there a spot by the drivers side?

What exactly did you do?

 

Im guessing one of the hoses is leaking. It mostly wet on the drivers side behind the engine. The leak is getting worse and worse over time. I talked to a mechanic yesterday, and he said to bring it in tomarrow so he can take the bottom apart and figure out the problem. Hopefulyl its nothin major...

 

The line might have worked loose from the steering rack.

 

Is your car turbo? If it is and its turbo check to see if the main lines to the rack are not loose,i just ran into this on my 1999 t6 2.8 turbo.